Guests have come to expect hotels to be environmentally-friendly — be it through water conservation efforts, recycling programs, energy saving initiatives and beyond.  In fact, a recent study by Carlson Hotels found that 76% of travelers said that a hotel’s degree of environmental friendliness influenced their decision of where to say.  Surprising?  Not really.  But what is eye-opening is that the same study found that some guests are willing to pay a premium to those with a high CSR involvement. 

CSR efforts affect consumer purchase decisions

The way brands approach corporate social responsibility has evolved from philanthropy to a true integration into business practices.  Once viewed as how you spend the money you make, social responsibility is now more about how you make the money you spend.  And it’s an increasingly important factor consumers consider when deciding whom to do business with. People want to be associated with companies that are good corporate citizens.

The 2008 Cone/Duke University Behavioral Cause Study, released by Cone and Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, validates for the first time that cause-related marketing can significantly drive actual consumer choice.  According to the survey: 

• 85% of Americans say they have a more positive image of a product or company when it supports a cause they care about
• 84% of women and 75% of men say they consider a company’s commitment to social  issues when deciding what to buy or where to shop
• 85% feel it is acceptable for companies to involve a cause in their marketing

A poll of its readers by CondeNast Traveler echoed these findings.  The survey found that 73% of readers would be willing to pay more to stay in a hotel that helps support the local community through health and education initiatives — 20% would spend between 1-5% more, 29% would spend between 6-10% more, and 24% would spend 10% more. 

Given these findings it should not be surprising that CSR programs are gaining popularity, with 68% of hotel executives polled currently operating such programs and another 20% planning to implement such programs with the next 12 months (Ernst & Young 4/09) 

For example, Kimpton Hotels & Resorts’ commitment to social responsibility is evident via its long-running Kimpton CARES  initiatives.  On a national level, KimptonCARES program builds awareness and raises funds for three non-profit organizations through a series of annual events:  Dress for Success, The Trust For Public Land, and the Red Ribbon Campaign.  

On a local level, all of Kimpton’s hotels are affiliated with local non-profit organizations, including those that benefit the arts, education and neighborhood beautification. In addition, Kimpton Restaurants are involved in their local communities, working to help support food and hunger organizations, as well as underprivileged children, by hosting and teaching cooking classes along with other charitable events and promotions throughout the year. On a national scale, many of its chefs and restaurants are also involved in Taste of the Nation, a program for Share Our Strength.

InterContinental Hotels Group is also committed to making a positive contribution in the communities in which they operate.  In addition to its corporate efforts, IHG hotels are also very involved grass roots efforts within their local communities.  For instance, InterContinental Hotels Group participates in the Dekalb County Schools’ mentoring program, Partners ‘N Pals. Each mentor commits to spend 30 minutes a week with a specially matched student at one of the county system’s schools.  Once established, the mentoring relationship continues throughout the school year. 

Voluntourism on the Rise

In addition to supporting socially responsible hotels, many travelers are looking to make a difference themselves.  Voluntourism — vacations that combine service with sightseeing — has boomed in popularity in recent years.  Twenty percent of American travelers have taken at least one volunteer vacation, according to a survey by Condé Nast Traveller magazine and MSNBC (of those 95% said they wanted to take one again), and more than half (55%) said they would like to take such a vacation in the future.

A 2009 survey by the University of California San Diego also found that the number of Americans interested in volunteer vacations continues to climb.  The top five types of volunteer assignments the survey respondents want are: 

• Education or artistic and cultural development 23 percent
• Provide spiritual or emotional assistance 19 percent
• Improve health and nutrition 18 percent
• Construct roads, homes and technology infrastructure 14 percent
• Environmental clean up or agriculture assistance 12 percent

The Four Seasons in Austin is testing the altruism of travelers by offering nearly 50 percent off their room rates in exchange for half a day of their vacation.  From May-September, 2010, the hotel is cutting summer rates by up to 46 percent for guests who volunteer with one of two non-profit organizations during their stay — lend a hand at community kitchen or take part in litter picking or beautification projects near Lady Bird Lake, next to the hotel.

So what’s the bottom line?  Being green is important.  No doubt.  And, hotel guests expect hotels to be stewards of the environment.  But increasingly, guests expect “doing well by doing good” to be a part of a hotel’s business strategy.  And, they’re happy to reward companies that give back with both respect and patronage. 

Author: Mark Johnson is President and CEO of Loyalty 360 – The Loyalty Marketer’s Association.  Loyalty 360 is the only organization that addresses the full spectrum of both customer and employee loyalty issues.  An unbiased, market driven clearinghouse and think-tank for loyalty and engagement opportunities, insights, and responses, Loyalty 360 is the source business leaders trust for industry metrics, market driven research, actionable case studies, and networking opportunities.

• The average number of Americans who used their mobile phone to browse the web grew by 61% in 2008 vs. 2007, according to EyeforTravel. 
• PhoCusWright forecasts that mobile bookings are expected to reach $160 million in 2010; 67% of overall travelers and 77% of frequent business travelers with web-enabled mobile phones have already used their phones to find local services and attractions.
• 71% of U.S. adults polled by Harris Interactive consider it safe to make a purchase via a mobile phone; 43% of respondents are willing to use their mobile phone to purchase hotel rooms and 40% are willing to use it to purchase tickets for travel.

It’s clear from these statistics that your guests are becoming increasingly mobile-ready and as the trend continues to escalate, the need for your marketing efforts to keep pace will be paramount to engaging them — and keeping them engaged.  From the delivery of personalized messages and promotions to expediting booking and reservations, mobile marketing unleashes a plethora of effective opportunities for connecting and interacting with your guests and prospective guests that were non-existent a handful of years ago. 

Mobile Advertising on the Rise

According eMarketer, U.S. mobile advertising spending will surge 85% to $593 million this year from $320 million in 2008, and it’s projected to hit $1.6 billion (yes…. billion) by 2013.

When you think about mobile marketing and advertising, text messaging is often the first activity that comes to mind.  And for good reason.  Optimizing message distribution via texting enables marketers to connect with consumers in a relevant, timely, and personalized manner.  And by ensuring that texting campaigns are “call-to-action” based, marketers are able to efficiently track the effectiveness of the campaign.

For instance, Mobile Marketer recently highlighted the success of the text promotion implemented by Hotel Casa Del Mar in Santa Monica, CA.  The goal of the campaign was to build an opt-in list of local consumers who would be prospective staycation guests.  Promoted by the hotel via traditional and social media advertising, the call-to-action mobile marketing campaign enticed consumers to join the hotel’s mobile loyalty club in return for a special offer (free, unlimited Bloody Mary’s or champagne during Sunday brunch).

After 10 days of outreach, the campaign generated:

• a substantial opt-in user based, a 100% delivery rate and a 75% engagement rate
• a 27% redemption rate which translated into increased revenue for the hotel
• a database of local consumers the hotel can target with promotions for revenue-driving hotel services such as food and beverage, spa treatments, etc.
• an ROI of 450% …. and still growing

In addition to text messaging, mobile applications are another form of top-of-mind mobile marketing that is proving to be value-add for travelers. Made popular by the launch of the Apple iPhone, apps are downloadable mobile application software programs designed to be used on smart phones.  As more and more travelers use their smart phones for navigation, they are looking for apps to provide location-based assistance when they arrive at their destination. In fact, research conducted on behalf of Hilton Worldwide supported consumers’ desire to use mobile technology for such travel-related needs. According to the survey, 58% of respondents said they would use a mobile device to check into hotel, 57% said they would change a booking and 42% said they would book business travel.

Armed with these findings, it’s no wonder that Hilton Hotels (including its Double Tree, Conrad, Embassy Suites, Hilton Garden Inn, Homewood Suites and Hampton Inn brands) rolled out free iPhone apps during the end of 2009.  The apps enable guests to readily manage myriad aspects of their hotel experience right from their hand-held phone: 

• Search for hotels nearby via address, city, airport or even GPS mapping
• Make a new hotel reservation and view, modify and cancel existing reservations and at any of Hilton Worldwide’s hotels
• Check-in online up to 48 hours in advance for gold and diamond members of the Hilton HHonors frequent-guest program
• Order food and/or services to be available ‘upon arrival’ at the Hilton, Doubletree Embassy Suites and brands
• Check balances and redeem points and stays for members of the Hilton HHonors frequent-guest program

How have consumers’ responded?  A week after launch, the app was downloaded more than 6,000 times.  Choice Hotels, Starwood, Omni Hotels, Four Season and Priceline.com have also recently rolled out free travel apps. 

As smart phones continue to enhance the on-the-go lifestyles of your guests, it is imperative that your marketing efforts become increasingly mobile.  With eMarketer predicting that U.S. mobile phone subscribers will reach 308.7 million by 2013 — translating to a whopping 96.7% penetration — this is a consumer trend you simply cannot afford to let pass you by.

Author: Mark Johnson is President and CEO of Loyalty 360 – The Loyalty Marketer’s Association.  Loyalty 360 is the only organization that addresses the full spectrum of both customer and employee loyalty issues.  An unbiased, market driven clearinghouse and think-tank for loyalty and engagement opportunities, insights, and responses, Loyalty 360 is the source business leaders trust for industry metrics, market driven research, actionable case studies, and networking opportunities.

Intuitively we know that doing good does well for the company as employees become more engaged and proud brand ambassadors when they feel their companies are socially responsible.  Yet, I could not agree more that we need to take to the next level our understanding of the link between employee volunteerism and the bottom line.  It’s critical for companies to have a tool to enable them to better focus their philanthropic efforts and measure the effect of their CSR (corporate social responsibility) initiatives so they can manage their volunteerism in ways that maximize the impact on both the business and the community. 

Previous studies have shown that when employees understand how their company’s CSR initiatives make a difference in their jobs and in their communities, engagement levels rise.  For instance, Sirota Survey Intelligence (May 2007) found that employees who are satisfied with their company’s commitment to CSR are likely to be more positive, more engaged and more productive than those working for less responsible employers.  Sirota’s survey found that when employees have a positive view of their employer’s CSR commitment, employee engagement rises to 86 percent; when employees don’t have a positive view of their employer’s CSR activities that level drops to 37 percent.  The survey also found that of the employees who are satisfied with their company’s commitment to CSR:

• 82 percent feel their organization is highly competitive in the marketplace
• 75 percent feel their employer is interested in their well-being
• 71 percent rate senior management as having high integrity
• 67 percent feel that senior management has a strong sense of direction

But how do these “feelings” affect the bottom line?  I highly suspect that the ROI and Impact Measurement Study is going to show that employee volunteerism initiatives drive engagement which unlocks human potential and leads to better performance overall.

Author: Mark Johnson is President and CEO of Loyalty 360 – The Loyalty Marketer’s Association.  Loyalty 360 is the only organization that addresses the full spectrum of both customer and employee loyalty issues.  An unbiased, market driven clearinghouse and think-tank for loyalty and engagement opportunities, insights, and responses, Loyalty 360 is the source business leaders trust for industry metrics, market driven research, actionable case studies, and networking opportunities.

These often-used terms have connotative and denotative meanings that can be quite different depending on who uses them and how they are used.  Loyalty 360 – The Loyalty Marketer’s Association continues to see uncertainly about loyalty, engagement, and voice of the customer.  Questions posed by our members and partners about these buzzwords keep coming fast and furiously. 

The confusion indicates that in this challenging economic environment, the focus on loyalty and engagement is becoming ever more important. Customers, clients, employers, brands and channel partners believe that voice of the customer, Web 3.0, the Groundswell, etc. can give them a well-needed competitive edge.  Yet, they don’t know how to execute these initiatives effectively. They’re looking for best practice examples of groups creating engagement, excitement, and commitment to help the answer the overriding question:  HOW? 

The answer is two-fold: 

(1)   Listen.  Listen, not in a lip service fashion, but listen with the belief that there is wisdom in crowds. Listen with the purpose that small is the new big. One blogger, one online community not addressed can have serious impacts on a brand.  Being truly committed to listening to and engaging customers requires a corporate mandate guided by a visionary leader who compels the organization to look at their actions and address these questions honestly: 

• When companies say they are committed to voice of the customer, yet they are only focused on call center responses, is that a true voice of the customer? 
• Or when companies say they are committed to voice of the customer, yet they are only focused on social, mobile and emerging media responses, is that a true voice of the customer?
• Or when companies say they are committed to voice of the customer, yet they only use third party opt-in data, is that a true voice of the customer?

(2)  React.  Once you listen you need to react with the purpose to engage and empower the dialogue with your audience. There’s no doubt the pendulum has swung from the brand to the client.  For every success story that becomes lore within this new “social community” and “engagement marketing” space, we hear five where the “visionary” that sold them on the new technology that would revolutionize their brand, their company, their product, their offering has failed. That’s because it comes down to commitment and a realization that the world of marketing is going to be more dynamic now than it has ever been. Customers, clients, employees, brand participants want control. Yet control means engaging in an interactive dialogue with the brand and brand participants. It means making the input for the various channels concise, relevant, interest and actionable.

I was recently at a loyalty conference where one of the speakers purported that we should treat our “best customer” with the best rewards and engagement. I thought to myself, what is your best customer?  How do you define that customer and what are the best rewards and engagement for them? There’s no place for this type of old school thinking in this new media market of engagement, loyalty and voice of the customer.  I challenge you to listen —- to truly listen —- to react, and to engage.

Author: Mark Johnson is President and CEO of Loyalty 360 – The Loyalty Marketer’s Association. Loyalty 360 is the only organization that addresses the full spectrum of both customer and employee loyalty issues.  An unbiased, market driven clearinghouse and think-tank for loyalty and engagement opportunities, insights, and responses, Loyalty 360 is the source business leaders trust for industry metrics, market driven research, actionable case studies, and networking opportunities. 

What is the point in SEO then?

Is SEO all about gaining better rankings for your main keywords? Is it about finding new keywords to rank for? Is it about making sure that your website ranks better than that of your competitors? Or perhaps it is all of the above? Well… yes and no.

SEO is certainly about improving your rankings in the SERP’s, and being better than your competition is always a good goal. And yes finding good keywords is a great way to achieve that. But your real goal is simple: Get more traffic and hence make more money!

How to use SEO in context

Ok so now you’re thinking, “Well that’s why we need better rankings isn’t it?” And yes it is definitely. But do you think that sometimes the SEO goal of getting a couple of results higher on Google can eclipse the over-riding goal to make more money? Sure it can, this happens a lot.

Further more. When you are finding new keywords to target, are you thinking about your users and how they might want to find you (or your competitors), or are you, at least occasionally, doing SEO for the sakes of it? Be honest…

Avoiding the SEO trap

The best SEO strategies are always the ones that focus on improving ranks naturally by creating a better user experience. It is important to keep this in mind when you are planning your own SEO activities. It is all too easy to pop in an extra keyword here and there until you end up with a site that doesn’t read right.

So from now on, think in more depth about each activity you undertake. Each time you make an SEO related tweak on your site, ask yourself “How will this affect my users’ experience?”

And when you are looking at new keywords to target, think about who might be searching using that phrase. The idea of SEO is to build targeted traffic. If you sell expensive china, there’s not a lot of point trying to rank for the phrase “cheap plates” even if it does happen to be an easy one to target.

Summary

In all of your SEO activities, try to remember this: “Better Rank = More Traffic BUT Better Site = More Sales.” Without sales (or whatever activity you use to measure success) your site is useless, and all the traffic in the world won’t change that.

Author: Mark Johnson, author of Marks Marketing Blog, a blog for the internet entrepreneur. He likes to blog about starting internet businesses, successful online marketing, and other top SEO tips.